Razor blade sharpener



Spt. 8, 1936. c. G. BARRETT I ,6

RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER Filed May 5, 1936 1% INVENTOR. J Char/e5 6.5arre22.

23 BY l WW ATTORNEYS. I

Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to a razor blade sharpener or honer, and has for an object to provide improved razor blade sharpeners which will be simple and inexpensive of construction and will 3 be easy and certain of operation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a razor blade honer which may be made of cast or pressed metal such as steel, but may likewise be made of any other suitable material such as brass or composition of matter, one well known composition of matter serviceable for this purpose being a phenolic condensation product commercially known as bakelite. Likewise any other suitable material may be used which is capable of being made into the particular form or outline of this invention and which may be provided with a smooth surface.

Many razor blade honors and sharpeners are already well known along the general line of this invention including theme of the inside of a drinking glass but in all the prior known forms the principal defect present is that their successful operation is too dependent upon the personal element of the operator. The edges of a double edged razor blade for which this invention is intended are at a double angle to the plane of the body of the blade, and it is therefore necessary when honing o-r sharpening the edge of the blade that the blade be held at the proper angle to the sharpening surface within very small limits.

When using the form of power known sharpener typified by the inside of a drinking glass, the finger of the operator is usually placed on one surface of the blade as the blade is moved back and forth over the sharpening surface. When so operated, it is necessary that just the proper amount of pressure be placed on the-top of the blade in order to bend the blade to the proper curvature to make the edges of the blade come into proper contact with the sharpening surface. With too little pressure, there will be no sharpening effect. With too great pressure, the blade will be bent so much that the bevel at the edges will cause the extreme edges to be bent away from contact with the sharpening surface thus likewise producing no sharpening effect.

With this invention, use is made of a part of the razor blade holder present in every safety razor of this general type for which this blade is to be used, in cooperation with the sharpener of this invention so as to provide a substantially uniform pressure.

The curvature on the sharpener of the invention is such as to cooperate with the width of the holder, so as to bring the edges of the blade into contact with the sharpening surface at just the proper angle, then a very slight variation of this angle may be produced merely by varying the speed of operation to thus provide blade edges brought to the particular desire of the operator.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention comprises the combination, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter claimed, disclosed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sharpener of this invention in position for operation.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of this sharpener of the invention. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a slightly modified form of the invention, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of still another form of this invention.

There is shown at It] the sharpener of this invention which is substantially rectangular as viewed in plan and whose upper surface has a curvature within a radius substantially equal to that shown at R. This concaved surface H is provided with a longitudinal slot I2 extending along the surface thereof. This longitudinal slot I 2 is of a width to permit the threaded shank I4 of the razor blade holder E5 to easily slide therethrough.

This razor blade holder I5 is a part of the conventional razor blade outfit whichutilizes a double-edged blade, shown at "5. Each end of each edge of this blade holder 3 is usually provided with a nib or boss l7, and the cutting edges l8 of the blade it are just slightly shorter than the distance between the nibs or bosses IT at the ends of the edges of the blade holder l5. The width IQ of this holder I 0 is therefore made slightly less than the distance between the nibs or bosses l1 and thus substantially equal to the length of the cutting edges E8 of the razor blade is. The length of the holder Ill is such that it may be conveniently held in the human hand as illustrated in Fig. 1.

In operation, the blade l6 to be honed or sharpened, is placed on the sharpener It), and the holder l5 placed thereon in the position shown in Fig. 1. Then merely grasping the holder ill between its ends 2| the holder Ill is given a back and forth lengthwise reciprocatory motion whereby the holder l5 will cause the blade 56 to travel back and forth thereover with the cutting edges "i8 coming into a sharpening or honing contact with the concave surface thereof at just the proper angle. The weight of the holder I5 augmented by centrifugal force is just sufficient when thus moved back and forth to bend the blade l5 very slightly, so as to bring the bevel on the cutting edges [8 into contact with the concave surface H at the best sharpening angle.

This desired angle, however, may have an almost infinitesimal variation and this variation may he arrived at when desired by merely increasing or decreasing the speed of operation, for if the speed of reciprocation be increased, then centrifugal force will cause the holder [5 to press down against the concave surface I l with a slightly greater effect, thus producing a slightly greater angle of curvature in the blade l6 as its edges l8 are being sharpened.

Only a very slight and almost infinitesimal change is produced thereby, because of the obvious limit in increasing the speed of reciprocation in this manner. The personal effort of the operator is therefore such as to vary the sharpening effect according to the desire of the operator, but not such as to vary the effect from operativeness to inoperativeness of the sharpener, for it is impossible to put too great pressure on the edges when thus operated.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the honer l0 may be made from a piece of curved material, provided with legs 22 at each end thereof and may thus be made of a piece of sheet material properly curved and bent. On the other hand, it might be made likewise of a solid block of material as illustrated at 23 in Fig. 4.

In another form of this invention, the honer 25 has its concave surface 26 provided with an angular slot 21 instead of the slot l2 parallel to the longitudinal sides of the holder.

By placing the slot 21 at an angle to the length of the honer 25, a sidewise as well as lengthwise sharpening effect is produced on the razor blade. Due to the angle of the slot 21 the width of this honer 25 is considerably less than that of the width I9 of the honer Ill. The distance 28 from one end of the slot 21 to the furthest side, being at the maximum, equal to the distance between the threaded shank I4 and the ends of the blade holder 15. This form of the invention is operated in the same manner as the honer Ill, that is, the blade I6 is placed on the concave surface 26 and the holder l5 placed thereover with its threaded shank [4 extending through the slot 21. The honer 25 is reciprocated in the hand in the same manner to thus give the cutting edges l8 of the blade IS a sidewise as well as a lengthwise sharpening or honing effect.

The novel features and the operation of this device will be apparent from the foregoing description.

While the device has been shown and the structure described in detail, it is obvious that this invention is not to be considered limited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes may be made therein within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A razor blade sharpener or honer comprising a substantially longitudinal member adapted to be held in the hand of an operator, said longitudinal member having an upper concave surface and a slot extending thru said upper concave surface having a longitudinal component, the width of said longitudinal member being not greater than the length of the cutting edges of the razor blade to be sharpened thereupon and being less than the distance between the nibs or bosses extending from the ends of the corresponding edges of the razor blade holder whose shank may extend through said slot.

2. A razor blade sharpener or honer comprising a substantially longitudinal member adapted to be held in the hand of an operator, said longitudinal member having an upper concave surface and a slot extending thru said upper concave surface having a longitudinal component, the

-Width of said longitudinal member being not greater than the length of the cutting edges of the razor blade to be sharpened thereupon and being less than the distance between the nibs or bosses extending from the ends of the corresponding edges of the razor blade holder whose shank may extend through said slot, said slot being parallel to the side of the longitudinal member.

3. A razor blade sharpener or honer comprising a substantially longitudinal member adapted to be held in the hand of an operator, said longitudinal member having an upper concave surface and a slot extending through said upper concave surface having a longitudinal component, the width of said longitudinal member being not greater than the length of the cutting edges of the razor blade to be sharpened thereupon and being less than the distance between the nibs or bosses extending from the ends of the corresponding edges of the razor blade holder whose shank may extend through said slot, said slot being at an angle to the longitudinal side of said member, the distance from an end of the longitudinal slot to the further longitudinal side being not greater than the distance from the shank of the razor blade holder to either end.

4. A razor blade honer or sharpener comprising a substantially rectangular member provided with a concave upper surface, a slot extending through said concaved upper surface parallel to the side of said longitudinal member, adapted to receive the shank of a razor blade holder, the width of the longitudinal member being substantially equal to the length of the cutting edges of the razor blade whereby a razor blade holder element may be placed over the blade with its threaded shank extending through said slot and carry the razor blade in a back and forth motion as the device is reciprocated by means of the operators hands.

5. A razor blade honer or sharpener comprising a substantially longitudinal member having a width substantially equal to the length of the cutting edges of the safety razor blade, a slot extending substantially parallel to the longer sides of said rectangular member along a mid-line between said longitudinal sides, the upper surface of said member through which said slot extends being substantially concave between the shorter sides of said longitudinal member, the length of said slot being less than the length of said member, whereby a razor blade holder element may be placed over a double-edged razor blade to be sharpened on said concave surface with the shank of the razor blade holder extending through said slot to act as a guide member as said longitudinal member is reciprocated in the operators hands, to sharpen the razor blade cutting edges.

6. A razor blade honer or sharpener comprising a substantially rectangular member having a width substantially equal to the length of the cutting edges of a safety razor blade, a slot extending substantially parallel to the longer sides of said rectangular member along a mid-line between said longitudinal sides, the upper surface of said member through which said slot extends being substantially concave between the shorter sides of said rectangular member, the length of said slot being less than the length of said member, whereby a razor blade holder element may be placed over the double-edged razor blade to be sharpened on said concave surface with the shank of the razor blade holder element extending freely through said slot, said holder element being guided by nibs or bosses on its ends bearing against the sides of said rectangular member as said member is reciprocated in the operators hand to sharpen the razor blade cutting edges.

7. A razor blade honer or sharpener comprising a substantially rectangular member provided with a concave upper surface adapted to receive a razor blade holder element bearing upon a double-edged razor blade, the blade resting with its cutting edges upon said concave surface, the

holder element having nibs or bosses at its outer ends bearing against the sides of said rectangular member to act as guide means as said member is given a reciprocatory motion in the hand of an operator to sharpen the blade.

8. A razor blade honer or sharpener comprising a substantially rectangular member provided with a concave upper surface adapted to receive a razor blade holder element bearing upon a double-edged razor blade, the blade resting with its cutting edges upon said concave surface, the razor blade holder element having a shank extending through a slot through said concave surface to act as a guiding means as said member is reciprocated in the hand of an operator, the bearing pressure of said holder element being increased proportionally to the increase of speed of reciprocation due to centrifugal force as said holder follows the curvature of said concave surface.

CHARLES G. BARRETT. 

